History

1907 – Mr. Mangan of Pittston, PA breeds Sir Roger DeCoverly. Within a few years Sir Roger was winning both in the field and on the bench, and had developed a huge reputation as a grouse dog. Sir Roger DeCoverly was held to be the finest example of a Dual Setter in existence and the benchmark for “The Perfect Gentleman’s Shooting Dog”.

1916 – Sir Roger DeCoverly II Jr. is bred by and registered to George Ryman in Shohola Falls, PA

1910-1916 – The Ryman Kennel is established

1961 – George Ryman dies

1962 – Ellen Ryman marries Carl Calkins and they use Carl’s money to renew the Kennel and the business

1967 – Ken and Nita Alexander become involved with the Setters and then the Ryman Kennels. Ken is given some premium Ryman breeding stock from Ellen & Carl, he then begins contract breeding for the Ryman kennels and eventually selling his own setters under the guidance of the Ryman Kennels.

1975 – The Ryman Kennels name is sold to Robert Sumner and Mr. Francis from West Virginia.

1977 – An unsuccessful attempt is made to join Alexander and Sumner’s operations and to build a new facility in West Virginia. The two go their separate ways, with Alexander forming DeCoverly Kennels. Sumner closes his kennel and the Ryman Kennel ceases to exist.

Ellen suggested that Ken use the kennel name “DeCoverly” to imply to the public the transition of their support from Sumner to him.

1982 – Bill Sordoni buys a started Setter named Smokey from DeCoverly Kennels

1990 – George Bird Evans was an observer of the Ryman evolution, and wrote in ‘George Bird Evans Introduces’, “the DeCoverly setters, which I consider the true heritage bloodline of the Ryman gun dogs.”

1992 – Bill and Ken become business partners and begin to develop plans for a new DeCoverly

1995 – Construction completed on a 20,000 square foot state of the art kennel in Lake Winola, PA. DeCoverly Kennels enters a new era.

2010 & Beyond – Bridget Bodine rejoins DeCoverly as Kennel Manager bringing a decade of DeCoverly work experience and 25 years of breeding and training knowledge. DeCoverly Kennels is poised to carry on its tradition of breeding and training fine English Setters.

“Blue is doing very well. His temperament is excellent! He really puts up with a lot from my 2 yr old daughter. We hope to get out hunting with Blue very soon.”
T.L. – PA

“Words cannot express how happy we are to have Briar in our lives. He is the most wonderful dog and is exceptional with our 19 month old son. When the time comes, we will certainly be back to add a new member to our family!”
M.G. – Michigan